Self-Care is Not Selfish

We love this article on Womb of Light about how women especially feel the burden of guilt when taking time for ourselves. From the article:

“We've been conditioned to automatically think we are neglecting others when we take time to care for ourselves. There is a very strong cultural message that ‘a good woman is a self-sacrificing woman.’

Many of us have grown up watching our mothers neglect themselves in order to care for their families—not just their children but their parents and husbands too. Many of us have looked on as our mothers received praise for their self-neglect and we've seen the destruction that their inner deprivation can cause. It manifests in family dynamics and within our mothers as rage, depression, emptiness and bitter resentment.”

Not only is self care not selfish, it’s essential to the happiness of your family and yourself. It's the least selfish thing you could do.

Self-care allows you to just bewith yourself. Just be there. With you. Listening to your thoughts, your intuition, getting reacquainted with who you really are. When you continually put other’s needs first, you forgot who you are and what it takes to make you truly happy.

By giving yourself consistent and loving self-care, you’ll have more energy, compassion and health, which means you’ll be able to help more people longer. Self-care will make you feel vibrant and alive and ready to make a difference in your home, community, country and world.

Read the rest of the article here, then go take a moment for yourself.